Surviving the Insanity

We've all experienced those times when we wonder if we'll beat the craziness that's descended on us.  For me, it's been the past 2+ weeks.  And it isn't getting better.

For the past few weeks, I've been working on what I hope will be the last (or last two) books in my Hearts of Desperation series.  It's time to bring an end to what has become, at this time, eight books, set in and around the fictional town of Desperation, Oklahoma.  To do that, there are storylines that need to be wrapped up.  For instance, there's an 80-something woman, who's been seen following/chasing an 80-something man around town for many years.  They have their own story to tell and maybe find their own happy-ever-after.  Babies have been born...with maybe a few more to come...and the children who have appeared early on, have grown in the last five years.  Couples have married and are settling in to enjoy small town life.  I've loved writing these books and the characters in them.  They're like good friends and a part of me.  But it's time to bring it all full circle and say goodbye to them.

You're probably asking what that has to do with surviving insanity.  Easy answer.  After surviving a week+ of Spring Break last month, we now have two more days of no school with grandkids--5 of them--to keep safe and somehow entertained.  It may be mid-April, but the weather today says it's late February.  Cold.  Rain.  Dreary.  Not the best environment for fun and games.  At present, the oldest and youngest boys (8 and 5), are doing their best to destroy my living room, with help from the youngest girl, who's 3.  The two older girls (10 and 11) are across the street, avoiding the mayhem with a friend.  By the way, the "we" above is myself and my youngest daughter, the aunt of the five.

And I'm trying to write.

I need to write.  I have to write.  The characters in my head are calling to me to tell their story.  We've been down this road before.  This is the third round for them, but this time we've hit on a winner.  Or hoping we've hit on a winner. ☺  But trying to write, while blood-curdling screams are coming from another room, just isn't easy.

I've already missed two weeks of blogging, and I decided that this time, I wasn't going let that happen again.   So here I am.  No special topic today, no writing about the art and craft of storytelling.  Only a simple statement to assure everyone that there are days...and more days...when the outside world can't always be shut off from the world we live in while creating.  As the Rolling Stones so aptly put it, you don't always get what you want.

With one chapter done, I'm itching to move on.  I'll do what I can, between saving the lamp with the now damaged shade and mourning the folding table I expect to collapse from the weight of two boys, who simply don't understand that it is not made of strong wood.  It's a fort, a cave, a place to hide out, while watching a movie.  For now, it's relatively quiet, but I really should go check on that crash I heard.

It is only when we silence the blaring sounds of our daily existence that we can finally hear the whispers of truth that life reveals to us, as it stands knocking on the doorsteps of our hearts.  ~K.T. Jong